Stop scrolling

It’s so easy to fall into the trap. I saw another absurd political meme and was already composing a response to the absurdity in my mind, but just in time I reminded myself I do not wake up in the morning to argue about politics, nor did I log into Facebook to spend the day tilting against absurd windmills.

But here I am spending a significant amount of time scrolling through nonsense that adds nothing to my day. I sometimes wonder if I am psychologically able to keep my “smart” phone in my pocket for a full day.

We engage with the screen instead of with the world around us. The world is silently shouting “Pay attention! See the world! Interact!” while we scroll through what? Do you remember half of what the screen showed you this morning? or 5 minutes ago? That wise saying you laughed at or nodded in agreement — what was it again? Why did you laugh? Wake up, Warren! There’s a life to be led, tasks to accomplish, needs to fill, weight to shed, dogs to steward — see to your life, work for your purpose, seize the day.

The high-tech tools created to teach us and draw us together are being abused to tear us apart and drive us into ignorance and misunderstanding.

Do I have the guts to stand up and cry, “No! I will love my neighbors! I will treat my supposed enemies with kindness!”?

Some will say, “How can you turn your eyes and speak of love when so much wrong is happening hither and yon?” That is precisely when we need not to just speak of love but to engage with the world in a spirit of love.

And so I resisted the urge and scrolled past the absurd meme after lingering over it for a few moments, but more and more I understand that the real solution is not to scroll past the absurdities but to stop scrolling altogether.

How can I not be frightened? Let me explain.

Listen to this post:

I see They are at it again. I take a quick peek at social media, and an old friend is shouting from afar, to anyone who will listen, “How can you see what They are doing and not be frightened?” My answer is that They are doing Their best to scare us.

Whoever They are, it’s a given that They are up to no good. We have known each other for a long time and made fond long-ago memories together, and now here They are to destroy everything that made those memories possible. They are insidious in every way, and how could we not be frightened?

My question is: Why do They want us to be scared of each other? Who benefits when we are at each other’s throats and frightened to risk living in peace and love with one another? Can we stop long enough to see through this induced hatred and fear and reach out to understand each other?

Rage and fear take a lot of energy, and if we give it a rest, we might find peace in our hearts. Peace is not an absence; it is a fullness. Peace is the default. When we are not quarreling and throwing epithets and stones and bullets at each other, we are buying and selling, and talking and sharing, and playing and working together. Only when the agitators and activists hurl their insults and their anger into the center of things, only then is the peace disturbed. The raging ones have been at it for so long that we forget peace is the default, and we forget that we have more in common than differences. They — whoever They are, and They come at us from all sides — exploit our differences to drive a wedge.

In the fullness of peace is a calm, gentle, patient, kind reality. If there is true fear anywhere, it is the fear in the hearts of these agitators that they might lose control of their narratives and we will stop being afraid of each other.

“How can I not be frightened?” Oh, sometimes I am frightened, because I can see the fear that grows when these manufacturers of fear relentlessly bang the drum that demands we be terrified of The Other. You know the word for those who want us afraid, don’t you? Terrorist. I am wary of those who worship at this altar of Fear and Rage and Anger, but if I yield to the impulse to be terrified, then the terrorists have won and they will rule the day.

No, my choice every morning and, as much as I can manage, every moment, is to love and live in peace with everyone I meet. When we find ourselves at the precipice and about to jump into the pit of fear and rage, let us talk each other down from the ledge and seek understanding in a spirit of love. Let us love and laugh and reason together until the fear mongers give up in frustration.

Each day has enough trouble

I page through my journal looking for encouraging words to share here, but I find I’ve spent a lot of time worrying lately.

The funny thing is I wrote a book called Refuse to be Afraid, and here I’ve been — perhaps afraid is the wrong word, but I definitely needed to read my own book, the one packed with quotes like Tom Petty’s immortal observation, “Most things I worry about never happen anyway.”

I got so anxious that I wrote, in big letters, Jesus’ gentle chastisement, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” and then copied from my favorite passage in Matthew —

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

And wouldn’t you know it, God and God’s people came to my rescue to ensure that what I was worried about didn’t happen anyway. Someday, when I can put my gratitude into proper words, I will tell that story, but for now I remain overwhelmed.

There is always a path through the storm; there is always a sunrise after the dark. Sometimes the path is as simple as humbling yourself and admitting, “I need help.”